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February 19, 2008

A Birthday In Combat

On February 19, 1945, John Staples and 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima, a volcanic island in southern Japan. It was the start of what would become one of the bloodiest campaigns of World War II.

It was also John's 23rd birthday. John talks to Dick Gordon about what he remembers of that day and the 34 subsequent days he spent fighting on Iwo Jima.

Today, John turns 86.

COMIC LESSONS

Michael Sweig was a maitre d' at Chicago's Pump Room in the early 1980s when one of his favorite celebrities, Richard Pryor, came in to the restaurant. Pryor was known for his colorful humor and the colorful language that peppered his acts.

Pryor ended up inviting Michael to his show that night in Chicago. Michael had front row seats and backstage passes, but Pryor ended the show much differently than Michael ever could have expected. Pryor forever changed the way that Michael viewed language, particularly racial slurs.

Neal Shea speaks with Dick about traveling with the Destroyer unit, and wondering about the responsible way to describe moments when soldiers shot animals, roughed up prisoners and destroyed civilian property.

When Navy Lieutenant Jacob Joubert got orders to move to Raleigh, N.C.as an ROTC instructor, he was at a low point in his life. A tough, tattooed kid from a tough Illinois town, he'd been saved by enlisting and then getting married and becoming an officer. Now, years later, he'd gone though a divorce and moved to a place where he knew no one. Then Jake remembered a long-ago passion for painting. He came up with the idea of reminding people of every single soldier who had died in America's wars - over a million people, each represented with a hash mark. Also, the lead singer of the band Cracker is personally against the war in Iraq. But one of his songs, Yalla Yalla, became a hit with soldiers.

Javorn Drummond spent almost five years in the Army. He served in Iraq and ever since he got back, he's struggled to find his footing. After two years of unemployment, Javorn found himself living in a trailer with no heat or clean water.

This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the 1988 Iran Massacre, when thousands of dissidents and activists were imprisoned and executed by the theocratic state. Iranian activist Shahla Talebi survived the massacre. Also in this episode, Nancy Poole started working in a piano shop mostly to keep herself afloat during a rough time. Then she fell in love with a piano - a rosewood grand concert piano she nicknamed "Big Red."

One-third of the detainees currently at Guantanamo Bay are Yemeni, and one of them is Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif. Marc Falkoff is a law professor at Northern Illinois University who represents 17 Yemeni men, including Adnan. He talks about the challenge of getting Adnan to trust him, and his own journey towards trusting his client. Also on the show: Rahim Al Haj and his music of Iraq.

When the Army raised the age limit for enlistment from 35 to 42, single working mom Kristi Jo Newland leaped at the chance to get her nursing education paid for. Kristi, her husband, and their children join Dick to talk about sacrifice and success, and the challenges of facing all of it at this time in their lives. Kristi turns 42 in October. Also on the show: a social worker who helps parents maintain a healthy post-divorce relationship.

Deacon Holton is a Marine Sergeant who’s logged 10 years with the corps. He’s served lengthy deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan and, in a way, so has his wife, Julie.They say they’ve figured out how to make long deployments work: communication (sometimes in code) is key.